Into the Dark of the Dark

A beautiful, somber, poetic contemplation on the paradox of Winter Solstice. For me, personally, I have always loved Winter Solstice because of its paradox. Hugs to you, Cnawan, and to anyone else struggling with this darkest night of the year, when even the Moon won’t show its face.

The Earth has turned it’s face from the Sun, and the Moon has turned its face from us. It is a rare convergence, the dark of the Year coinciding with the dark of the Moon, but in the Northern Hemisphere this is our experience as the Winter Solstice aligns with the New Moon. The darkest night, made all the darker with no Moon to shine.

The dark of course, has two faces. In the closing lines of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, Dylan Thomas writes of himself as a young boy saying his prayers at the end of Christmas Day, “I said some words to the close and holy darkness.” This may be my favorite line from the entire story. It is such a moving sentiment. So often I have loved the holy embrace of the dark, that mysterious void in which one feels intimately connected to the Divine Source, in…